muffins

Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

Breakfast on the go.  Snacks during the school or work day.  What can a gluten free person enjoy that isn’t full of additives, chemicals or excess sugar or salt?  Or wickedly expensive.  Not many options out there.  Can you tell where this is going?  YES, Muffins to the rescue! These muffins are easy to make, perfect in texture for breakfast and totally yummy.  I love things made with raisins and oats (if you can eat them as some folks can’t tolerate oats) both are healthy choices and add hearty flavor to baked goods.

This muffin recipe is from Annalise Roberts’s wonderful cookbook: Gluten Free Baking Classics – The Heritage Collection, which came out last fall. I have made many great baked goods from this cookbook, a favorite of mine. She uses golden raisins: I was out so I subbed in regular raisins.

I freeze any muffins I won’t eat in 2 days; in a Ziplock freezer bag.  They make super school or work snacks and freezing them extends their usefulness by several weeks.

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Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour mix (see below)

½ cup gf old fashioned oatmeal

3/4 c brown sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

¾ cup regular or golden raisins

¾ cup chopped walnuts

2 lg eggs beaten

½ c milk, 1 or 2 percent

½ c canola oil

Cinnamon sugar: 2 tsp. sugar and ½ tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Heat your oven to 350 degrees, placing the rack in middle of oven.  Spray muffin pans with cooking spray.  One batch makes 12-14 muffins.

Put the oatmeal and the brown sugar in a food processor and blend until coarsely chopped. Dump in and mix all dry ingredients in bowl of stand mixer or a big bowl. Blend in raisins and walnuts. Combine milk and oil in a small bowl, beat in eggs.  Add liquids to big bowl; stir on low speed until fully blended.

Fill muffin pans 2/3 full. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Bake 18-22 min until golden brown. Do not overbake or they get dry.  Remove immediately from the pans and cool on a rack. Freezes well for up to 3 weeks and keeps in fridge (well wrapped) a few days.apple-tarts-oatmeal-muffins-015

Brown Rice Flour Mix mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

Pumpkin Muffin Time

Fall baking seems to be all about pumpkin. I like muffins rather than breads for their great texture and super portability. Donuts are pretty much just sugar and grease bombs which I reserve to eat once or twice a year. Pumpkin roll is lovely for company but if it is just me, the muffin rules!

This muffin recipe is my own version of a pumpkin muffin using the banana muffin recipe from Annalise Roberts’s wonderful cookbook: Gluten Free Baking Classics.  They are easy to make, perfect in texture and totally yummy.

I do love to sprinkle them with chunky sugar; used for fancy baking.  They would be extra nice with a streusel topping.  Look at my other muffin recipes and there are a couple versions I use that you can apply to give that lovely top to your muffins.

I freeze any I won’t eat in 2 days; in a Ziplock freezer bag.  They make super school or work snacks

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Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups brown rice flour mix (see below)

2/3 c granulated sugar or coconut palm sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp. ginger

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 c packed canned pumpkin

2 lg eggs beaten

½ c milk, 1 or 2 percent plus 3 extra tbsp. if you use the palm sugar

½ c canola oil

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees, placing the rack in middle of oven.  Spray muffin pans with cooking spray.  One batch makes 12-14 muffins.

Mix all dry ingredients in bowl of stand mixer or big bowl. Combine milk and oil, beat in eggs.  Add liquids and pumpkin puree to big bowl; stir until fully blended.

Fill muffin pans 2/3 full.  Bake 23-24 min until golden brown. Do not overbake or they get dry.  Remove immediately from the pans and cool on a rack.  I like to sprinkle the muffins with big sugar granules before baking for crunch.   Freezes well for up to 3 weeks.  Keeps in fridge (well wrapped) a few days.

 

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Brown Rice Flour Mix mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

 

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

There are still some zucchini growing in my garden.  I am a huge lover of dark chocolate. So… I want to share this muffin/cupcake recipe for anyone who wants to use up a zucchini and loves dark chocolate.  You really can’t tell there is zuke in there. I could taste a faint banana flavor (knowing that I put one in there) but the really strong flavor is dark chocolate. To my mind they taste like a tender crumbed deep chocolate cupcakes.  Yumm!

Easy recipe as long as you have a blender. Never baked using just a blender as my mixing device. Did you notice there is no flour in this recipe?  The magic ingredient in my eyes is the almond butter.  And probably that banana!  FYI: I found this recipe somewhere on the net, can’t find it now that I deleted it.  But I had made it once and had written down the recipe so here it is for you to whip up…as long as you got a blender….

 

Flourless Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients

½ cup almond butter

1 ripe med banana

1 large egg

¼ cup honey

¼ cup cocoa

2 tbsp. chia seeds

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. sea salt

1 cup shredded zucchini

Scant 1 cup dark chocolate chips plus extra for topping.

Put first 9 ingredients in blender, blend fully; put in mixing bowl; add zucchini and chocolate chips.  Blend well.

Put into muffin cups;  first set 12 liners, add 1-2 more choco chips on top after the batter is in the cups.

Bake 375 degree oven for 20 minutes

Cool in pan; best after aging: suggested you have willpower to hold out until 24 hours have passed….good luck with that!

Banana Blueberry Muffins

The other day I was thinking of making banana nut muffins…short one banana.  So I added blueberries to make enough fruit.  An instant classic!

I know, they look just like a banana muffin but they have a secret inside, juicy flavorful blueberries! The streusel topping looks gorgeous and adds an extra layer of flavor.  There are walnuts in them to so you get some really great nutrients from the fruit and nuts.  You can swap the white sugar for coconut palm sugar which is very low as far as raising blood sugar; important if you are pre-diabetic as I am.   I did add an extra tbsp. of milk because of the coconut palm sugar. They come out slightly darker if you use that special sugar.  banana blueberry muffin 002

I love how healthy these muffins are and the convenience of freezing most of them for use as daily snacks.  They defrost during the morning and are ready just when I need a pick me up. It’s great how being gluten free can be so yummy and easy when you plan ahead and bake your own snack treats. I freeze all muffins I won’t eat in two days time; a zip lock freezer bag works great.

Banana Blueberry Streusel Muffins

2 cups brown rice flour mix (see below)

2/3 cup granulated coconut palm sugar or granulated sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. xanthan gum

¼ tsp. salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

¾ cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

2 large eggs

½ cup milk, 1 or 2 percent plus 1-2 tbsp more if using the palm sugar

½ cup canola oil

Topping: Mix the following in a bowl, make sure the butter is in tiny pebbles; use your fingertips to blend.

½ cup rolled oats

¼ cup brown sugar

2 tbsp. almond meal

1½ tbsp. butter

¼ tsp. cinnamon

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Directions: Heat your oven to 350 degrees, placing the rack in middle of oven.  Spray muffin pans with cooking spray.  One batch makes 14-16 muffins.  I got 16 when I made them.

Mix all dry ingredients in bowl of stand mixer or big bowl. Add fruits and walnuts; stir to coat them with dry mix.  Combine milk and oil.  Add liquids and eggs to big bowl; stir just until fully blended.  It is a very thick batter.  I like to let it stand ten minutes to allow the batter to thicken; makes a better and higher muffin.

Fill muffin pans 2/3 full.  I use a big serving spoon and fill it about half way to dump batter into each muffin space. Sprinkle the top with the topping. Press it in a bit so it won’t all flake off after baking. Bake 21-23 min until golden brown. Do not over bake or they will taste dry.  Let stand 6 or 7 minute and then remove from the pans and cool on a rack. I often use a fork to help pry them out; the streusel can get stuck on the edges to the muffin tin.  They freeze well for a few weeks, if they last that long.  Keeps in fridge (well wrapped) or an airtight cookie jar for 2-3 days.

Brown Rice Flour Mix base mix 

(This mix is the same as King Arthur’s gf blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

Banana Muffins…Tried and True

Sometimes you find that the bananas you got only a few days ago are getting squishy and you have no desire to eat sticky overripe fruit.  This recipe is perfect for those days.  This muffin recipe is my own version of muffins from Annalise Roberts’s wonderful cookbook: Gluten Free Baking Classics.  They are easy to make, perfect in texture and totally yummy.  My family and friends love them for snacks. They were my first kind of gf muffins and were so tasty and foolproof they launched my love of gf muffins.

I have subbed in chopped apples for some of the mashed bananas or applesauce will do too.  Sometimes I add ¼ cup currents, raisins or dried cranberries.  They add a tasty surprise when you bit into your muffin.  If you are not a fan of nuts leave them out.  Sometimes I leave out the nutmeg, or add extra cinnamon.

I do love to sprinkle them with chunky sugar; used for fancy baking.  Sometimes I ice some for company and we have them for dessert.  They were banging good that way. I feel no guilt; these muffins are low fat, low sugar and totally yummy, even when left un-iced!   muffin with frosting

I freeze any I won’t eat in 2 days; in a Ziplock freezer bag.  They make super school or work snacks and I sometimes take a couple on a hike, wrapped carefully so they don’t turn to banana nut crumbs on the way up the mountain!

Here are some I made on 6-1-16; they have a streusel topping and some chocolate chips added for extra yummy.

Banana Nut Muffins

2 cups brown rice flour mix (see below)

2/3 c granulated sugar or coconut palm sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 c packed ripe mashed banana

½ c chopped walnuts

2 lg eggs beaten

½ c milk, 1 or 2 percent plus 2-3 extra tbsp. if you use the palm sugar

½ c canola oil

Directions: Heat oven to 350 degrees, placing the rack in middle of oven.  Spray muffin pans with cooking spray.  One batch makes 12-16 muffins.

Mix all dry ingredients in bowl of stand mixer or big bowl

Add bananas and walnuts; stir to coat them with dry mix

Combine milk and oil and.add liquids and eggs to mixing bowl; stir until blended.  Sometimes I add ¼ c dried cranberries which is a nice addition.

Fill muffin pans 2/3 full.  Bake 18-24 min until golden brown. Do not overbake or they get dry.  Remove immediately from the pans and cool on a rack.  I like to sprinkle the muffins with big sugar granules before baking for crunch.   Freezes well for up to 3 weeks.  Keeps in fridge (well wrapped) a few days.

Brown Rice Flour Mix base mix  (same as King Arthur basic gf flour blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch (not potato flour)

1/3 c tapioca flour